Emotional Labor and the Work of School Psychologists

As the field of school psychology faces critical shortages, investigations of work factors affecting job satisfaction and burnout are of increasing importance. One such factor is emotional labor, which is defined as the work of managing one’s emotions and emotional expressions so as to align to the expectations of the job or profession. In this study, practitioners (N = 192) were surveyed regarding their work experiences, recognition of display rules (standards that guide employees’ emotional expression), surface acting (the form of emotional labor in which employees manage their external emotional expression), job satisfaction, and burnout (consisting of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment). Multiple regression analyses showed that display rule recognition was positively related to surface acting, and surface acting was positively related to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization while negatively related to job satisfaction and personal accomplishment. Results suggest that emotional labor may be an important aspect of the work of school psychologists—impacting both job satisfaction and burnout. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.